Not Precognate

A Volunteer Amid the Alyssum

I’m definitely not capable of precognition.  If I’d ever wondered if I might be capable of seeing the future, events in my garden this spring would have dissuaded me.

Yes, folks, this is the much-promised Tomato Update!

In early April, following my pattern of these last three or four years, I planted tomato seeds in the narrow outdoor bed I use for starting seeds.  Usually, the seeds have germinated within ten days.  This year, because our spring was unusually cool, weeks went by without a sign of any of the seeds sprouting.  I began to worry that we might not have any tomato plants this year, and since the greenhouses were low in stock and what stock they had was outrageously highly priced, maybe no homegrown tomatoes at all.

When, when the tomato seeds did germinate, the seedlings grew very slowly and there were many fewer than I expected.  However, a new phenomenon entered the equation.  I cleared up a section of the same bed, only a few inches further west, in an area that gets less sun, and so less heat.  My goal was to encourage the volunteer zinnias and hollyhocks that were beginning to show.

What did I get in addition?

You got it.  Tomato plants.  Now, this isn’t a complete mystery.  Jim and I often water with grey water from our kitchen, and late in the summer, this can have lots of tomato seeds in it.  However, what was the mystery was why these were germinating, when the ones I’d planted, which were in better soil, getting more care and more light, were not.

But I didn’t complain.  Then, as if embarrassed by the competition, the seedlings from the seeds I’d planted started growing and filling out.  By mid-May, I was starting to move the larger ones to where I wanted them.  When I ran low, I started using the volunteers.  Then we got hit by hail.  (Here’s a link to earlier WW, for those who missed that excitement.)

When I got over to what we call the long bed, I used a combination of tomato plants from seeds I’d planted and volunteers.  Then we found more volunteers, and I planted some of these, bringing us up to a total of seventeen plants.

Then I cleaned up the bed out front, where we plant zinnias, planted zinnia seeds, started watering and…  Guess what?  Yep.  More tomato seedlings.  Lots more.  At this point, we’ve given away ten plants and still have ample surplus for me to use to replace a couple of plants that failed to thrive (I suspect a combination of hail damage and toads burrowing next to the plants to take advantage of the damp soil.)  I found a few more corners in which to put plants, and some of the ones that I planted have gotten large enough I’m just going to leave them in place, so at a conservative count, we probably have twenty plants in.

Next mystery…  What sort of tomatoes will we get?  Some of the plants are showing flowers, but it will be a while before we get fruit.  I’ll let you know when we do!

 One thing for sure, I won’t try guessing, because I know I’m not precognate!